Children's day is closing by a week. All restaurant, cake shop and patisserie are planning to do something innovative, attractive out of the box to grab the attention of their little eye. Cupcakes, muffins, Candy floss, Pastries, Scones and Chocolates presented in a savoring style start showing up on display shelves and windows.The trend of the kid's eat concept has got a complete makeover. It seems like a paradigm shift to me. Me and All my friends, the 1985-90 born used to love to eat a slice of Black Forest cake or Zebra Torte from Monginis.
What used to be a treat for us is today termed as mediocre. My young friend from the neighbourhood tells me she would prefer a Swiss Chocolate Ganache or a Fresh cream fruit cake cake topped with Kiwi and melon.Another incident which amazed me was when I gifted a 8 year old lad "Dairy Milk" from Cadbury's . He made a sad face and said he likes TWIX and TOBLERONE only, would make an exception to eat SNICKERS. For us Cadbury's Dairy Milk meant treat. Those who gifted it to us would become an immediate favorite. And if you ever got me a crackle then you got on the numero uno position in my TOP 5 list.
When I went to school, Jam and bread, Poha, Upma or Tomato sandwich with green chutney would be the standard in the tiffin. it only got better when there would be some spicy Egg Burji or tangy Pav Bhaji. The best surprise would be a slice of chocolate cake with greasy uncle chips or garden wafers in the tiffin. Today," Mom, I want a packet of pringles, the box looks exciting” is a statement. Thank god one thing that stayed constant over progression of several generations and that is Maggi.I call today's kids Superkids, almost everyone knows how to operate a mobile phone, run a computer and some even know how to write a program for designing software. They are very knowledgeable compared to what we were at their tender age. Their minds are already opened towards concepts like communication, globalization, eco-friendly, global warming and many such. But to take care of such Superkids we have Supermoms. Mothers who constantly shuttle between work and family but still retain their independent life as women. They have discovered the most innovative ways to make these kids get their daily dose of nutrition. Pooja, a dentist tells me she makes Parathas with home cooked vegetables (subzi). She even mentions about spreading an Omelet on a Chapati, lining it with chicken curry and some piece of chicken and rolling it into a Frankie that is accompanied with some tomato ketchup. The lunch box comes back home wiped clean.
Sudha shetty, an IT professional says she does this tempered butter fried idli. Its healthy and has a better taste. Besides she says that plain Idli is a passe for GEN NX. Even Dosas are stuffed with vegetables cooked in proprietary Chinese masala which transforms the dosa in to spring dosa. Potatoes are not allowed in dosa as they make me fat says Kanika, her nine year old daughter.
Jay Singh mentions his son Ranvijay has a group within which they decide who gets what in his lunch box. Menus are preplanned and his son's duty Rota says “dessert”. I generally give him healthy fruits draped in custard as it keeps me satisfied that he is having milk and also some healthy fruits. I even do a quick cake with layering fruit and vanilla sponge and then giving it a coat of melted chocolate. He also tells me that one thing on the menu stays constant and that's every Friday the slice of fresh cream pineapple cake from a nearby cake shop. Kiran, an architect shares that she completely avoids her daughter from having soft beverages, syrupy milkshakes or fruit salt drinks. She instead stocks her refrigerator with fruits like apple, bananas, melons, chikoo which can be readily blended into yummy smoothies with either milk or yoghurt. The most exciting thing was the home made fried rice. Veggies such as onions, capsicum (both chopped), corn, tomato tossed along with cooked rice in little oil with a magic masala. This is savored religiously by all ages. To be true, when I tasted it even I liked it a lot.
While covering this article I was amazed with the changing trend and recipes of the TIFFIN BOX. I suddenly felt," This era is full of innovation, deadly combinations and trying out something new all time. A collective database of these recipes will actually evolve a new cuisine called “HEALTHY JUNK".
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